ANTITUMOR MUSHROOM

Experience from Ethnomedicine

Tumor diseases are one of the main causes of death worldwide. Experience from Asian and Eastern Europe countries shows that mushrooms could play an important role in prevention and treatment of cancer. Piptoporus betulinus (Bull.: Fr.) P. Karst. was used traditionally in Bohemia for the treatment of rectal cancer and stomach diseases (34). It is also known as fungus of the ‘iceman’ from the Copper Age found in 1991, who carried P. betulinus fruiting bodies attached to his clothing on his journey in the Alps.

In Eastern Europe, the fruiting bodies of I. obliquus have been used as a folk medicine for cancer and stomach diseases since the 16th or 17th century (35). Antitumor effects of several extracts and isolated compounds could be demonstrated in tumor cell systems and in animal assays (36,37). Several triterpenes and ergosterol peroxide contribute to the activity. The melanin complex of I. obliquus has high antioxidant and genoprotective effects on peroxidase-catalyzed oxidation of aminodiphenyls (38).

So called ‘immunomodulators’ (biological response modifier, immunopotentiators and immunostimulants) are the most important medicinal mushroom drugs used especially in Japan, China, Korea and other East Asian countries today. They are summarized in the following sections.

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov